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Activist to face extortion charge in B.C. pipeline bombings

Canada&#39;s most famous anti-oil industry activist, who was convicted a decade ago of bombing sour gas wells in northern Alberta, was arrested Friday and his lawyer says he will be charged with extortion in a series of bombings in British Columbia.

Wiebo Ludwig shown in this file photo from 2000, flashes a victory sign leaving the Edmonton provincial courthouse. (THE CANADIAN PRESS FILE PHOTO)

By Bob WeberTHE CANADIAN PRESS

Fri., Jan. 8, 2010

HYTHE, Alta.–Canada's most famous anti-oil industry activist, who was convicted a decade ago of bombing sour gas wells in northern Alberta, was arrested Friday and his lawyer says he will be charged with extortion in a series of bombings in British Columbia.

Wiebo Ludwig is accused of extorting EnCana, the oil and gas company that was the target of the bombings, said his lawyer, Paul Moreau.

However, Moreau said he's not sure what is behind the charge and said he has not seen the evidence against his client.

"Extortion, by its nature, is an offence where the accused is trying to get something from the victim or cause the victim to do something," he said.

"I wasn't aware that Rev. Ludwig was trying to get EnCana to give him anything or to do anything, so I don't know what the basis of the charge is."

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Moreau said his client was "surprised and taken back" by the arrest, and pointed out he had actually written an open to the B.C. bomber last fall appealing for peace.

"I find it surprising given what little I know about the situation," Moreau said from his office in Edmonton. "My understanding was Rev. Ludwig had been attempting to assist the RCMP to try to resolve the concerns that were arising out of the events of Tomslake."

Dozens of RCMP officers swept onto Ludwig's farm in northwestern Alberta near the B.C. boundary Friday morning and began a search stemming from six pipeline bombings targeting the Calgary-based company in the Tomslake area of B.C. since October 2008.

Mamie Ludwig, Wiebo's wife, said the raid came as a big surprise, but didn't want to talk more.

"We may have some information later," she said, adding that there was still a lot of activity on the family's Trickle Creek farm.

Wiebo's friend Richard Boonstra, who served three weeks in jail for his part in the attacks a decade ago, said there were as many as 50 officers, including SWAT teams.

Boonstra said he had seen the search warrant but felt there was nothing to it.

"They're looking for blue and red pencils and dynamite. I said to them, 'you're not going to find it.' It's ridiculous.

"Industry and authorities, when they don't get what they want, they start squeezing and squeezing and shaking trees and hoping something will come down, and I think that's what's going on."

He said the 51 people living on the compound took the raid in stride.

"We've been through it before, so people were fairly calm about it," he said. "But there's a lot of children here and everything's being upset."

Neighbours said it was deja vu as they watched the police vehicles swoop in early Friday morning, much as they had back in the late 1990s when Ludwig was arrested in the sour gas bombings.

At least one helicopter hovered over Ludwig's property, 25 kilometres east of the B.C.-Alberta boundary.

Diane Schuller lives a few hundred metres from the farm, but said the situation wasn't as frightening as it was the last time.

"This time I'm honestly not afraid," she said. "The first time the raid happened several years ago, yes, I was actually quite concerned. Because there have not been bombings around our place anymore, I don't feel the kind of fear I used to."

Nathan Paquette, who works at a highway gas station near Hythe, said his customers were abuzz about the arrest all day long.

"The news has been going around quite quickly," he said. ``People are kind of shocked."

RCMP Insp. Tim Shields said a man in his 50s or 60s was taken into custody, but he would not confirm the identity of that person.

The arrest was made in a hotel in the nearby city of Grande Prairie, Alta., just as the raid began.

"There are a number of potential charges but we aren't going to be making public what those charges might be at this point because this is going to be a decision that's up to Crown counsel," Shields told CTV News.

CTV also reported that one of Ludwig's sons was charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly refusing RCMP access to the farm.

EnCana spokesman Alan Boras said the company is pleased that the investigation has advanced. It had been offering a $1-million reward for information in the case.

"It's quite obvious that these events have been a challenging time for those communities and we recognize that," Boras said. ``It's been a challenging time for our employees and contractors, people who work there. So we hope this is a step towards bringing some kind of resolution and restoring that neighbourly trust that was common there and certainly has been impacted by these events."

B.C. Energy Minister Blair Lekstrom, who calls the area where the bombings took place home, welcomed the news.

"A lot of hard work has gone into this investigation," he said. ``At the end of the day, as this moves forward and the investigation continues, and if charges are laid in this case and it proceeds to court and the individual is found guilty, then I guess my take would be – I would hope they would lock this individual up and throw away the key.

"There was a great deal of distress caused, for the families out here, for the children ... We're extremely fortunate that no one lost their life in these incidents."

Lekstrom's relief was echoed by others in the community, including former oilpatch security worker Mike Ranahan.

"It's about time there was an arrest," he said. "I think it's going to affect a lot of work in the patch."

"I was kind of relieved," agreed Marilyn Gustavson of nearby Beaverlodge, who said the arrest will ease tensions in the community. "Hopefully they got the right person."

Ludwig has long argued that oil and gas development near his land was harming the health of his family and livestock.

His conviction, along with friend Richard Boonstra, came after two EnCana gas wells and one owned by Suncor Inc. were hit in 1998. Another blast cratered a road leading to a Norcen Energy well site.

Ludwig, who holds a theology doctorate from an American university, served two-thirds of a 28-month sentence for those bombings.

When a renewed string of pipeline attacks began last year in Dawson Creek, Ludwig sent the media an open letter calling for calm, but saying he understood the underlying motives.

"I want to encourage you not to let anger about such stupidity get the best of you," he wrote to the bomber.

RCMP told The Canadian Press in early December that Ludwig's letter appeared to have a positive effect on the bomber, because no new incidents had taken place since he wrote it. They also said they would welcome it if Ludwig wrote another letter.

Ludwig, however, said police had not asked him to write another letter. He also said he wasn't interested in helping the police and that, in a way, he regretted writing the letter because of how the RCMP were handling the investigation.

In particular, Ludwig said he didn't like the pressure police were putting on the community where the bombings took place, including their repeat interviews with some residents and constant presence in the area.

When asked at the time if he knew the identity of the bomber, Ludwig wouldn't comment.

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